


Babysitting

by Fabrisse



Series: Transformations [10]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: M/M, Out of Order
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-06-16 22:40:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15447420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fabrisse/pseuds/Fabrisse
Summary: Hotch has to work late and Jack talks to Reid.





	Babysitting

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally a help_pakistan story written for ghfan98 who wanted a Hotch/Reid story with Jack. I lost it. I finally thought to see if the old email where I sent it to ghfan98 was still there. It wasn't, but one of the replies to me had the text. It was filled with extraneous characters, but I was able to clean it up and pull it together.
> 
> _This was written in 2010. DC had legalized same-sex marriage, the ninth jurisdiction to do so. There was hope that maybe by 2020 it would be legal in all 50 states._
> 
> _The world has changed a lot since this was written. It's good to remember that it's mostly for the better. Let's hope that the changes aren't rolled back._

Reid was reviewing several of his old articles from the Journal of Abnormal Psychology and others. He'd been approached by a publisher about linking them all into a book, and the Bureau thought it was a good idea.

He'd put Jack to bed about an hour earlier, and he was waiting for Hotch to come home. He was beginning to learn a few babysitting tricks -- like when Jack got stubborn about getting ready for bed, he'd get ready for bed too, which was why he was lying in bed with a lapdesk at nine o'clock on a Friday evening.

Hotch had had budget meetings all day at the Hoover building. At four he'd called both Reid and Haley to make certain it was all right for Reid to have Jack alone.

There was a knock at the door. Reid put away the photographs he had out and said, "Come in." 

"Daddy's not home yet?" 

"No. I said I'd make sure he came into see you when he got home." Reid looked at Jack pointedly over his glasses. 

"You might forget." Jack started to take a step forward and then stood still. 

Reid thought for a moment. He put his laptop on the nightstand, and patted the bed beside him. "You can stay here until your dad gets home. Is it all right if I work?" 

Jack scrambled onto the bed. "I'll turn over and go to sleep and that way you won't forget." He got under the covers and punched the pillow and wiggled until he got comfortable.

Reid let him. Just as he started to reach for his laptop, Jack said, "Are you and Daddy married?" 

He paused for a moment to shut down his laptop and put his notes in order. He stretched back and put an arm around Jack. "Sit up." He showed Jack his wedding ring. "You know we're married so why are you asking?" 

"Billy said it's not allowed. Men can't marry each other. I don't know about girls, but boys aren't allowed to marry other boys." 

Reid took a deep breath and wished Hotch were home to field this conversation. Then he wondered if Jack would risk asking his Dad -- whether somehow Spencer was the better option. Finally, he said, "You go to school in Virginia. Billy's right that it's not allowed in Virginia, but your Dad and I live in the District, and here the law says two men are permitted to marry each other." 

"Okay." Jack didn't sound very sure. "So are you daddy's new wife?"

For the first time, Reid really appreciated his mother's infinite capacity to answer questions. He wasn't certain he'd inherited it. "Wife is for girls. Husband is for boys. I'm your dad's husband, and he's my husband." 

There was a long pause and Reid could feel the tension in Jack's body under his arm. "You're not married. You don't kiss." 

It was rare for Reid to find himself speechless. He thought for a moment. "Marriage is a contract between two people. They don't have to kiss even though it's in many wedding ceremonies." 

"Mommy and Daddy did, and when I go over to Billy's house on Wednesdays, his Mom and Dad kiss when his Dad gets home. Married people kiss each other." Jack was adamant.

He wasn't by nature a demonstrative person. Even little things, like letting Jack crawl into bed with him tonight were still odd to him. Of course , he kissed Aaron, but the fact that they couldn't be openly affectionate in most areas -- especially at work -- had led them to keep most of their physical contact private. Neither of them had considered that it would be an issue for Jack, well, not this issue. The side of his t-shirt was a little wet, and he realized Jack was crying. "What's wrong?" 

"I want you to be married to Daddy. I missed you when you weren't allowed to come over before."

Reid chuckled quietly. "I'm here now, waiting for your Dad to get home, just like you are. You don't have to miss me." 

Jack climbed onto his lap and cried against his chest for a couple of minutes. His body got heavier, and Reid tried to ease him back to his pillow under the covers. When that didn't work, he pulled the covers over them both a little better, picked up a book and began to read.   
***  
Hotch came in to the apartment and immediately went to Jack's room. His son wasn't there, and he could see light under the door to the master bedroom. He walked in quietly to see Spencer, his glasses slightly askew, sleeping sitting up with Jack sprawled across him.

Spencer stirred and grimaced as he tried to ease himself upright. "Jack wanted to see you," he whispered. 

"I can tell. Why didn't you just let him sleep beside you?" 

Spencer adjusted his glasses. "There were questions." 

Aaron sat on the bed and the shift in the mattress from his weight made Jack lift his head groggily. He blinked a couple of times and said, "Daddy," as he lauched himself at his father. 

Spencer rolled to one side in order to avoid his feet and hissed as he moved his shoulder. 

Aaron held his son close and smiled at his husband. "Is this the first time he's fallen asleep on you?" 

"It's the first time where I haven't been able to move him. Half an hour longer and I'd have risked nerve damage." He grinned as he said it. 

Jack looked back over at Spencer with a little bit of hurt on his face.

"It's okay Jack. I was joking about the nerve damage." When that didn't mollify him, Spencer thought for a moment. He knelt up and kissed a somewhat surprised Aaron over Jack's head. 

When the kiss broke, Aaron looked between them. Jack seemed to be delighted and Spencer said, "Married people kiss." 

Aaron said, "Oh."  
Spencer put his hand on Jack's shoulder. "Do you believe us now?" 

"I'll tell Billy," Jack said emphatically. "Can I sleep here tonight?"

Aaron said, "Sure, Buddy, but no kicking," as Jack crawled under the covers. 

Spencer smiled wryly. "If he kicks too much, I'm sleeping in his bed."

**Author's Note:**

> This is the final story in Transformations in order, but it is NOT the final story I'm writing. There's one (maybe 1.5) story left, but chronologically it fits before this one. I've been hit with a little bit of inspiration and I finally found *a* draft (not the final one) of the penultimate story that I'd been working on. Fingers crossed.


End file.
